EDGY: Slate argues it’s misleading to say Houston showcases America at its best

Once you get past the people arguing that the people of Texas deserve a natural disaster because they voted for Trump, you find politicians squabbling about the Sandy relief bill and how they won’t be vindictive and petty when it’s their turn to bail out Houston.

But once you get past those people, you come upon some wonderful examples of human beings helping each other in a time of crisis. We almost slipped and called them heroes, but now that we’ve read Slate’s super-hot take on Hurricane Harvey, we know better than to overuse a word like “hero” just because people are stepping up in the face of a natural disaster.

Somebody had to come up with a contrary take, and it’s no surprise that it was Slate. But Katy Waldman’s piece, provocatively entitled, “Houston Doesn’t Showcase ‘America at Its Best,'” isn’t a slam on Houston, which Waldman likens to a “junior varsity team elevated by circumstance.”